In a bitter political duel over new anti-terror legislation, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday that he would make no further concessions to opposition demands for milder laws to control terrorist suspects.
The dispute provoked a heated showdown in Parliament between Blair and Michael Howard, leader of the opposition Conservatives, with each man accusing the other of seeking political gain by appearing tough on terrorism in advance of elections expected in May.
The debate has a more immediate impact, however, as parts of the current anti-terror laws expire next Monday. Home Secretary Charles Clarke warned that without new laws, 11 foreigners being held without trial or charge at Belmarsh Prison in London would be freed. The men reportedly include Abu Qatada, a Syrian Muslim cleric accused of acting as a spiritual mentor to Mohamed Atta, one of the Sept. 11 hijackers.
The men were detained under anti-terror laws written after the Sept. 11 attacks. But, last December, Britain's highest court ruled that the indefinite detention of the men violated European human rights conventions.
At the core of the argument is the degree to which Britain's effort to thwart terrorists justifies the suspension of centuries-old liberties.
Blair has been seeking Parliament's approval for a law that would permit the home secretary to issue so-called control orders to restrict the movement of terror suspects through measures including house arrest.
Following debates in the House of Lords this week, the Blair government has offered concessions, notably provisions for judges to be consulted on the use of control orders and for the legislation to be reviewed each year.
But the House of Lords went further, voting in favor of opposition demands for a deadline to replace the law by November and for stricter criteria for control orders to be issued only in cases where there was a "balance of probability" that a suspect was a terrorist.
The government wants a lower standard, "grounds for suspicion."
The votes were particularly embarrassing for Blair as 24 peers from his Labor Party vote against the party's wishes. They included the former lord chancellor, Lord Irvine, widely known as the prime minister's erstwhile mentor.
"We have made concessions we think are reasonable," Blair said Wednesday. "I hope that satisfies people."
Senior police officers have said in recent days that hundreds of potential terrorists are in Britain, and some antiterrorism expects have expressed fear of an attack ahead of the coming British election, as happened in Madrid last March 11, three days before Spain's election.
"Should any terrorist act occur, there will not be a debate about civil liberties," Blair said Wednesday. Saying the police and security services have urged him not to dilute the proposal, he said: "There would be debate about the advice the government received and whether they followed it. I've got the advice, I intend to follow it," he said.
SUPPORT: Elon Musk’s backing for the far-right AfD is also an implicit rebuke of center-right Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a swipe at Elon Musk over his political judgement, escalating a spat between the German government and the world’s richest person. Scholz, speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday, was asked about a post Musk made on his X platform earlier the same day asserting that only the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party “can save Germany.” “We have freedom of speech, and that also applies to multi-billionaires,” Scholz said alongside Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. “But freedom of speech also means that you can say things that are not right and do not contain
Two US Navy pilots were shot down yesterday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of US targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one sustaining minor injuries. However, the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite US and European military coalitions patrolling the area. The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the
Pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, the boy once known as “Baby 81” is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education. Jayarasa Abilash’s story symbolized that of the families torn apart by one of the worst natural calamities in modern history, but it also offered hope. More than 35,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed, with others missing. The two-month-old was washed away by the tsunami in eastern Sri Lanka and found some distance from home by rescuers. At the hospital, he was
MILITANTS TARGETED: The US said its forces had killed an IS leader in Deir Ezzor, as it increased its activities in the region following al-Assad’s overthrow Washington is scrapping a long-standing reward for the arrest of Syria’s new leader, a senior US diplomat said on Friday following “positive messages” from a first meeting that included a promise to fight terrorism. Barbara Leaf, Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East, made the comments after her meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus — the first formal mission to Syria’s capital by US diplomats since the early days of Syria’s civil war. The lightning offensive that toppled former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 was led by the Muslim Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in al-Qaeda’s
RSS